2pt1 Robots and Responsibilities
by Lamby
Summary: Slade has come to Bayville for dark and dangerous reasons. The Titans have followed him, but how will the X-Men deal with a second group of heroes on their patch?
1. Chapter 1

Teen Titans Crossover. Slade has come to Bayville for dark and dangerous reasons. The Titans have followed him, but how will the X-Men deal with a second group of heroes on their patch?

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

**A/N:** I did say I wasn't going to write any more Evo fics, guess I was wrong. Blame my muses and too much Toonami, but please also leave me a review and let me know what you think of my efforts? Luv Lamby

Scene One 

"We have a problem." Beast spoke evenly, apparently totally unphased by the very problem he was bringing to light. Absently he scratched the fur behind his left ear with his right hand. At the Xavier Institute most of the residents were long ago in bed. Only four of them were up late, holding an emergency conference of war in a lavishly decorated library room. The warm orange of the few scattered lamps made the room seem cosy and welcoming. Firelight and shadows ran amok over the rows and rows of leather-backed books and tomes. The calming smell of burning charcoal from the fire, and of dust piling up where no one had thought to dust, contradicted the urgency of the midnight meeting.

"We fear Mystique is up to her old tricks. She's been causing trouble out West. Its nothing Storm and I can't handle," Beast glanced to his elegant Weather-Goddess teammate, who smiled and nodded simply to affirm his confidence. "We will be departing in Velocity tonight to go and investigate. But it does mean that we are faced with quite the quandary."

"Indeed." Storm agreed, "Logan and the Professor are still taking time away from the Institute to recuperate after Ilehana's sacrifice." She referred to the untimely death of Charles' only daughter and Logan's partner only a few short months before. "Scott and Jean of course are no longer with us after they have departed to enrol at college. Therefore I am afraid that as the eldest remaining members of the X-Men, the privilege of being in charge must fall to you two."

A look of aghast and slack-jawed horror was suddenly slapped across the faces of the two X-Men in the secret meeting with Storm and Beast. Both Magneto's former henchman Gambit and Ilehana's one-time sidekick Blaze gaped and gagged like landed fish. They turned paler than ghosts despite the warm tint from the light in the room. Gambit tried to object, but stuttered instead. Petite redheaded Blaze was not so tongue-tied. Her big brown eyes flashed with angry fire as she voice her objection.

"You can't do this! You can't make us be responsible!" The English girl started forwards, only to be restrained by Remy as he grabbed her upper arms from behind. "Don't leave us with those kids!"

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." Storm assured the pair of ex-thieves, chuckling as she turned to leave the room.

"Don't forget, it's the first day back at school tomorrow. You'll be in charge of getting everyone up and there on time." Beast advised light-heartedly, before following Storm. The door closed behind them, leaving Blaze and Gambit to look at each other in abject misery and despair.

"Wake me up," Gambit moaned, wincing. "Dis has gotta be some kinda nightmare, Cherie." Blaze obligingly pinched his arm hard. "Aw!" He exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot. "That didn't help."

"Looks like we're stuck then." Blaze sighed, "Face it Gambit, we're doomed."

Roll titles…………………………..


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

**A/N: **Thank you so much to my reviewers. Just to clear up any confusion, yes this is number 7 in my Evo fics. Ilehana Xavier, the Prof.'s grown up daughter, is missing presumed dead. Blaze is a troublemaker Ilehana collected in Europe and brought back to Bayville. Gambit changed sides after he got sick of Magneto and Mystique screwing him over. That's about everything, though if you'd like to go back and read the previous stories feel free, the timeline is on my bio page. Luv Lamby

Scene Two 

Beep, beep, beep…

"What the?" Rogue lifted her head away from the white feather pillow slightly and eyed her alarm clock wearily. "Oh no! I'm late!" She slammed her hand down on the alarm as in the same motion she jumped out of bed. Grabbing a green fluffy towel from the back of her door she sprinted towards the bathroom, only to find the hallway already queued up.

"Don't tell me y'all overslept?" Rogue demanded impatiently, flinging her towel over her shoulder as she joined the back of the line.

"Ya." Nightcrawler grumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Storm and Beast took off during the night. Gambit and Blaze are supposed to be in charge of getting us all to school on time."

The bathroom door opened, and Nightcrawler pushed past the exiting Iceman to take his turn. That left Kitty and Rogue the last ones in the hallway.

"That, like, totally makes sense." Kitty grumbled. "Gambit and Blaze are hardly gonna care if we all get tardy marks, and on our first day back too."

"You're tellin' me." Rogue commiserated, when one of the causes of their communal bad mood appeared around a corner at the other end of the hallway. Shadowcat covered a grin with her hand whilst Rogue scowled. It looked like some of the other kids had already been taking their frustration out on Remy. His shirtfront was splattered with freshly squeezed orange juice and milk. He proceeded directly to Blaze's bedroom door and banged on it hard with both fists.

"Blaze wake up! You ain't leavin' me wit' les enfants terrible!" There was no answer from inside the door. A wicked look crossed the Cajun's face and he put a finger to the lock. It dissolved on a small cloud of pretty orange sparks. Unfortunately for Gambit, Blaze had thought ahead that he might be tempted to use lock-picking tactics. As soon as he opened the door, a bucketful of water sloshed down on his head, drenching him. Swearing under his breath, Remy stepped backwards and stripped off the soaking shirt, trying to wring some of the liquid from it. Kitty wolf-whistled, laughing. Rogue was quick to point out that she was not impressed.

"Eugh, Gambit please! Its enough to put a gal off her breakfast!"

"Well this is a sight a girl could get used to in the morning." Blaze joked cheerfully, emerging from her room fully dressed, made-up and wide awake. She wore her usual combination of heeled shoes, boot-cut blue hipster jeans, chunky leather belt and tight black vest top. Earrings hung in pairs from each earlobe; she had a chain round her neck, bracelets and rings on her hands. Her whole image was still choreographed to produce the ideal of success and desirability, something she'd had to do as a thief. She looked Gambit over professionally, making him smile a crooked grin. At the same moment, Nightcrawler left the bathroom and let Kitty in. Rogue thought it about time to make her complaints heard.

"You two do realise we're all gonna be late for school on our first day back 'cause of you, doncha?"

"No problem Rogue," Blaze chirruped brightly, tossing her long red curls back over her pale shoulder. "Get everyone to meet me in the hangar five minutes before your bell rings, I'll get you there on time."

"Alright! We're taking the X-Jet school bus!" Kurt jumped into the air exuberantly and then ported off to tell the others. Rogue waved the poof of grey smoke he left away with a hand, and then griped again at Blaze.

"The Professor'd flip of he were here an' you know it."

"'If' being the operative word, Rogue." There's gotta be some perks to this job." Blaze flippantly replied. She turned flirtatiously to Remy. "Then I guess we grown-ups will have the mansion to ourselves…"

With that the pretty redhead stalked off, fully knowing that Gambit was watching her with a lecherous look in his unique eyes. It was harmless banter really, Blaze had long ago given up hope of anything more passionate developing between her and the Cajun charmer. Not least because she suspected that Gambit still harboured some secret feelings for his ex-girlfriend Rogue.

"I ain' takin' the X-Jet to school." Rogue complained, "It's a bad idea on way too many levels."

"Don't you worry Cherie," Gambit promised, "I'll get you to school on time, an' no jet engines involved I swear." He flashed her a winning smile, knocking the girl a little. Rogue was saved from having to make a grateful reply as Kitty left the bathroom. Rogue dived in and shut the door behind her with a clunk. Ride from Gambit or not, she was still running late.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Three 

"Alright, everybody out!" Blaze ordered the swarms of teenagers she was ferrying to school. Punching a button on the X-Jet console, she opened the hatch and lowered the gangway for them to leave by.

"Um, like we're still not quite on the roof Blaze?" Kitty was hesitant, peering down at the flat roof that hovered a distance below them.

"Oops, sorry." Blaze teased, manoeuvring the jet in closer. "I thought I was doing the High School run, not Kindergarten." She looked back over her shoulder as the kids started to take leaps down to the roof, helping each other and using their powers as necessary.

"Oh no!" Kurt exclaimed, slapping his forehead with his palm. "I forgot my lunch. Blaze could you…"

"Do I look like your mother?" Blaze cut him off, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Kurt acknowledged, "But I hear sometimes she looks like you."

"Fair point." Blaze gave in to Mystique's son and tossed him some money from her own pocket. "I want that back next allowance day. And next time you can 'borrow' from one of your classmates, just knock off that image inducer and scare it outta them."

"Danke!" Kurt exclaimed, porting out of the jet to join the others on the sunlit roof. The bell rang just as Kitty phased through the rooftop door and opened it from the inside. Blaze gave them all a cheery wave goodbye and raised the jet up into the air. The gangway shut as the English girl pointed the jet's nose skyward, launching away from Bayville High excitedly.

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The wind tugged at Rogue's clothes and she was buffeted by Gambit's trench coat as they raced along the open road on his motorbike. With nothing else to hold on to, Rogue was clinging like a limpet to Gambit's waist. The tinted visors on both their helmets kept the glare of the bright early morning sun out of their eyes. Gambit was leaning far over the handlebars, urging the bike to go faster and faster. Bayville whipped by as little more than a blur. Even knowing that she was still going to be late for school, Rogue had to admit she was enjoying herself.

Out of the clear blue and cloudless sky, a rumble of black thunder came hurtling towards them. The X-Jet dropped out of its flight path, coming down on the heads of the mutants on the bike. Blaze dipped the Blackbird's wings to show them she had seen them. As Rogue and Gambit looked up simultaneously, Blaze gave them a single-handed salute and a cheeky grin through the glass of the cockpit. Then she hit the throttle and flung the X-Jet past the bike, back towards the mansion. Rogue felt the suction as the jet tried to lift the bike off the road. Gambit compensated with another burst of speed, and Bayville High suddenly appeared over a crest in the road.

The bike skidded slightly sideways, producing a plume of dust from the ground as the X-Men reached the front of the school. Rogue leapt off the machine like she'd been caught red-handed trying on some of Jean's clothes. She tugged off her helmet, hoping she didn't have the helmet hair to match, and gave it back to Gambit. She was trying to think of a good way to say thank you without sounding pathetic, when someone spoke behind her.

"Just what time do you call this young lady? The tardy bell rang five minutes ago."

"Principle Kelly…" Rogue had no excuse the man would like, so she gave up and instead ran to class. The doors had barely flapped closed behind her when Kelly turned to Gambit.

"This is not a suitable way for one of my pupils to arrive at school, late and on the back of a motorbike like some kind of hoodlum. See that it doesn't happen again. Mutants or not, I will not have you leading my pupils astray."

Gambit took off his helmet and coolly looked Kelly over with his unique eyes. Kelly couldn't help himself. He balked as though physically struck.

"If I wanted to lead her astray, I wouldn't have brought her to school."

"Yes, well." Gambit's impeccable coolness only served to fluster Kelly more. "Just see that it continues."

The Principle smartly about-faced and went back into school. Gambit watched him go with a thin sneer on his face. Kelly hadn't even realised he'd contradicted himself. Helmet back on, Gambit peeled his bike away from the school and headed back towards the Xavier Institute. Only then did Rogue move away from the window where she had watched the dialogue and finally go to class. She passed a row of lockers, stopping briefly as she heard a strange noise in the otherwise silent corridor. It was a quiet beeping, its origin indistinguishable. Rogue squinted, listening, but she couldn't place the noise so she shrugged and carried on.

Inside the dark of a disused locker, a crimson LCD light blinked as something beeped, whilst a digital timer steady counted down to zero...


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Four 

Peace and quiet, Blaze thought to herself as she wandered back into the mansion from the hangar. Not for long though! The thought was a vow of action, as she hit the remote for the TV and turned the volume up on her favourite rock music channel. Guitar riff and drum rhythm echoing deafeningly off the Institute's walls, Blaze went to the kitchen. She rooted in the freezer for a few moments, pulling out a tub of rum and raisin ice cream. Blaze kicked the door of the freezer closed, and opened a nearby drawer to liberate a silver spoon.

"Back already Rem?" She called out as she thought she heard someone in the building with her. There was no answer apart from the blaring music and the tormented vocals of the lead singer on the TV. She must have been mistaken. Nudging the drawer closed again with her hip, she peeled off the tub's lid and flung it down on the worktop.

As she turned, Blaze came face to face with an intruder in her home. The slippery ice cream tub splattered to the floor, followed by the tinkling spoon. Blaze didn't notice. The metal-masked man took up all her attention.

"Slade." She breathed, recognising the supervillian easily. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"I'm a driven man, Blaze." Slade spoke coldly, even mechanically. Dressed in black and silver armour, he was a tall and muscular figure. His face was masked completely, half black and half bronze. His mouth was a series of vertical slits. His left eye was the only human feature he displayed, set in the bronze half of his face. It was black, cold and empty of all emotion except greed. "You can get me information I want."

"Wrong." Blaze shook her head and took half a step backwards away from him. "I'm not in that game anymore Slade."

At that moment Gambit arrived back. Almost instantly he sensed that something was wrong. Silent as a ghost he crept up to stand behind the door of the kitchen where he could see and hear everything without being spotted.

"You sold your soul to me a long time ago Blaze, you're not going back on your word. And just to make sure, I have taken steps to ensure your cooperation."

"What do you mean?" Blaze gasped.

"There is a bomb in your friends' school. Cross me and it will go off. Refuse me and it will go off. Attempt to disable it, or to warn anyone about it, and it will go off."

Blaze went ashen, muttering, "You fiend, what do you want?"

"My own technologies are no longer sufficient. I require more, and I have heard of a project that will more than suffice. I want you to bring me the plans for the Sentinel robot you X-Men fought not too long ago." Slade turned and strode purposefully towards the door, making Gambit duck back down the corridor and hide in an adjacent room. At the door Slade turned back to issue his final instructions. "Meet me on the bridge five minutes before the school day ends. Do not be late, or your friends will die."

He left, and not a moment too soon. Blaze caught hold of the worktop as her knees buckled and nausea swamped her. She'd thought she'd left all this behind when she became an X-Man. Yet here she was again with no Xavier watching over her, getting into a really bad situation.

"Old friend?" Gambit asked suspiciously, leaning on the doorframe. Blaze jumped as he spoke, she hadn't realised he was about.

"Not exactly." Blaze replied, her tone slipping onto panic. "I don't know what to do! Slade's serious. He will kill everyone at the school if I don't do what he wants. But I can't do it. I wasn't here when the X-Men fought the Sentinel! I've barely even read the files the Professor keeps on it! What am I supposed to do? I skipped hero class remember, I'm just in this for the cheap rent!"

Gambit came across to Blaze's side and took her wrist in his gloved hand. She looked up at him helplessly, her liquid brown eyes full of worry, Without thinking about it, both of them moved closer to the other.

"You have read the files though Petite?" Gambit asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes, but I don't see how…" Blaze started. Gambit put a finger to her rosebud lips to silence her and she obligingly stopped talking.

"Who set the X-Men up to take on the Sentinel?" he asked, moving his finger to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Magneto and the Acolytes." Blaze replied. "I know you were there, what are you getting at Remy?"

"Who you t'ink told Magneto 'bout the Sentinel program? An' found out what the robot could do to a mutant?"

"You?" Blaze twigged, grinning at her tall friend, "Seriously, you know where I can get the plans for Slade?"

"Depends." Gambit shrugged, "What do I get in return?" He made as if to kiss her, leaning forward and half-closing his eyes. Blaze stopped his flirting by changing into her other form, the one where she was made entirely of almost transparent fire.

"How about not getting your scrawny Cajun behind flame-grilled?" Blaze threatened, catching his infectious energy as adrenaline started flowing in both their veins. Remy raised his hands, admitting defeat, and Blaze shifted back to be solid again.

"C'mon," he grabbed her hand and headed for the door. "We gotta stop that bomb. We can worry 'bout what Slade gonna do wit' his new toy when the school is safe…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Five 

The shrill tone of the Teen Titans' theme music sounded out in the giant T-shaped building in which the five heroes lived. Robin, as always wearing a black mask over his eyes and sporting gelled black hair and a yellow cape, attentively attacked the computer console that had made the alert. Pretty, green-eyed, red-haired alien Starfire peered over his shoulder looking vaguely confused in the nicest way possible. Raven, in her dark blue cape and bobbed haircut, looked up from where she was reading a spell book. Cyborg and Beastboy even paused their Game Station game to hear what Robin had to say.

"Its Slade," Robin stated pretty much needlessly. "He's up to no good again, in a place called Bayville…"

"Never heard of it," the giant bionic Cyborg pointed out.

"That's not the point Cy, Slade is our responsibility and we have to go head him off," Robin argued righteously.

"Cyborg never said he didn't want to go," Raven pointed out calmly, "Just that he'd never heard of this 'Bayville' place. Obviously we have to go and investigate."

"Obviously," green and furry miniature animorph Beastboy repeated sarcastically. "Thanks Raven, just 'cause you're not two rounds away from beating Cyborg for like the first time ever!"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Cyborg boasted with a cheesy grin, "You'll never beat me BB!"

"Perhaps now would be a good time for us to go to this Bayville?" Starfire asked Robin quietly, as in the background Beastboy took offence at Cyborg's attitude and leapt to attack his teammate whilst in the shape of a T-Rex.

"I think so Star," Their leader replied, smiling at his pretty counterpart, "Titans, roll out!"

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"Our first break-in together," Blaze whispered into the sub-darkness, "How sentimental."

"Yeah, I'm wellin' up," Gambit replied sarcastically, lifting a glowing playing card to light their way. Not to be outdone, Blaze shook her head, releasing a flurry of tiny fireballs like fairy lights to light up the massive subterranean cavern they were in.

"Which way?" Blaze asked, looking round at the broken scaffolding and torn electronics, leftovers of the Sentinel project. Gambit leant over a railing and looked down over the drop. It was a very long way down. Pocketing his card he looked round for any kind of way to cross the schism. There was none that he could see. Thoughtfully he took his staff weapon from his pocket, and attached a gadget to one end with a screw motion. Blaze watched, fascinated, as he scouted upwards to the roof of the chamber. He just hoped he had a long enough length of rope, or this expedition would be over very quickly.

Targeting what he hoped was a swelling in the ceiling of the chamber, Gambit let rip with the gas-propelled grappling hook and line. The hook punctured a way into the bedrock above and then opened out, locking securely in place. The staff part of his gadget made a handle in Gambit's grip. He climbed up onto the broken rail and swung his long legs over the other side. Only then did he look back to Blaze and ask if she was coming. To her credit, Blaze never even looked down or gave the rope a tug to see if it would hold both their weight. She just climbed over after him, and put her arms around his neck. Together they kicked off the gangway and swung out over the seemingly endless darkness beneath them.

Without warning they were abruptly pitched to land on another platform not unlike the one they had just left. The rope clicked and came away from Gambit's staff, and the two X-Men skidded across the grated floor to land in a heap together. Blaze's little firelights flickered out as her attention was dragged away from keeping them burning, plunging them both back into darkness.

"Um, Cherie?" Gambit inquired inquisitively, a disembodied voice in the pitch black.

"Sorry," Blaze replied, lifting her hands and creating more fae fires to light the way. They danced in her palms between the Cajun and the English girl. They were a tangle of limbs, faces so close together they were breathing the same air. The little lights made the situation cosy, maybe even romantic, and certainly not uncomfortable.

"You gettin' used to your Guardian-powers?" Remy asked, touching one of the little flames with a finger. It writhed as though he tickled it, but didn't burn him. Blaze dropped her eyes, thinking of Ilehana and the life she had sacrificed so seven X-Men could become more powerful than they had ever imagined. It somehow involved the rebirth of ancient entities called the Guardians of Destiny in the bodies of the X-Men Storm, Logan, Cyclops, Jean, Golan, Iceman and Blaze. They represented the Guardians of Air, Metal, Energy, Thought, Earth, Water and Fire respectively.

"Yes. Not that I want to," Blaze sighed. "It's like what happened when I got my powers in the first place. In order for me to have this amazing gift, people I care about have to suffer and die. It doesn't seem like a fair trade to me." She shook her head and got to her feet, leaving Gambit to follow her. Before he could offer her any words of consolation she spoke again, "Have we far to go?"

"Not far," Gambit pointed ahead to where a doorway loomed, its door hanging on to the frame by a single hinge. Yellow scene of crime tape was strewn across the opening. "Jus' in there, we'll find what we're lookin' for."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Six 

There was a distinct tang of dust and mould in the office behind the police line. The room was trashed. Water ran down one wall making it thick with green slime. That cool underground smell of a place where daylight never touches made Blaze wrinkle her button nose in disgust. She was a sun-loving creature; cold and damp were amongst her least favourite things.

With the delicacy of a walrus, Gambit heaved a desk over and away. It thudded across the floor with a resounding crash. He passed it and strode to the wall behind it. Blaze didn't understand what was so great about the wall, until Gambit found a hidden catch and clicked it. The wall panel opened up, creaking, revealing a computer monitor that suddenly burst into life. Immediately it demanded a password that Remy obligingly typed in on the keyboard. In the system, Gambit quickly used key controls to navigate the complex menus.

"I'm impressed," Blaze commented. "Looks like you've done this before."

"Once or twice Cherie," Gambit agreed, pulling up the schematics on the Sentinel. A few more commands and the wall spat out a DVD recorded with all the information Slade would ever need. Gambit tossed the disk to Blaze who caught and pocketed it. He was about to restore the computer back to how it had been when they first heard company arrive. Blaze stole back to the door and peered out into the darkness. Sure enough there were torches and the green glow of night vision goggles on the other side of the chasm. A torch beam fell on Gambit's abandoned rope, and then flicked across to the office door. Blaze ducked back behind the wall so it didn't land on her.

"Is there another way out?" she asked Gambit as the secret panel shut again over the computer.

"Non," Gambit shook his head, "We got company."

"Yep," Blaze peered back round the doorframe, "Got any ideas?"

"Guess we gonna have to try an' sneak past…" Gambit was grasping at straws and he knew it. Sneaking past would involve swinging across the chasm again on the rope that they didn't even have the end of any more.

"I've got an idea," Blaze went to the wall and placed her hand on it. Then she placed her other hand flat on it as well. Cautiously she probed with her extraordinary power. Finding what she wanted, a fissure in the earth that could be widened and extended, she pushed her fire into the rock. Around her hands the rock started to warm up, turning a dull red, reddish orange and finally a bright yellow-white when the rock started to melt. She wasn't Magma, not at one with the rock or even totally understanding what she was doing. But she'd melted rock before when she'd found she was trapped beneath it and couldn't see how this was any different.

Burning and melting her way forwards, Blaze built a tunnel running upwards at as steep an angle as she could. It was hard work but the energies she had absorbed as Fire Guardian were sufficient. Gambit, who was the cause of the landslide where Blaze had been buried alive, followed behind. He was careful not to touch the hot rock with anything but his booted feet. When Blaze punctured through the surface like a needle through cloth, Remy turned round and looked back the way they had come. Sounds of pursuit echoed up the shaft. His eyes glinted coldly as he raised a charged ace of clubs. It impacted further down the tunnel and caused the cave to collapse, protecting their escape.

Blaze had already left the tunnel and was there to offer Remy a hand out. Together they ran quickly through the deserted industrial buildings back to Blaze's silver two-seater convertible. The clock on the dashboard showed they were running dangerously late.

"Buckle up," she ordered; revving the engine, "This is going to be bumpy." The car lurched forwards with that, spraying mud and gravel up behind the wheels. The race to meet Slade before he blew up the school was on.

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The bridge was busy, too busy to hope to drive onto it to meet Slade. Perhaps that was what Slade had been planning for. Blaze and Gambit ditched the car and ran onto the structure, dodging the traffic as it slowly crept across the water. Of Slade there was no sign.

"Where is he?" Blaze gasped hysterically. Gambit shook his head, raising his hand to keep the sun from his eyes and he looked upwards over the suspension bridge's towers.

"Right here," Slade wound down the blacked out electric window of the black executive car he was in. He was sat in the back. Who the driver was Blaze couldn't see. "You have the schematics?"

"Yes," Blaze handed over the DVD. Slade put it into a laptop and checked the information quickly.

"Very well," he raised a trigger remote so Blaze could see it. She thought he was going to hand it over to her. Instead she looked on in horror as he pressed the big red button. In the distance there was a sudden boom from the direction of the school. A great grey mushroom cloud billowed into the air. "Goodbye Blaze, it has been a pleasure doing business with you again."

"No!" Blaze cried out, but Slade's car was already pulling away. Gambit charged a card to blow Slade away. Blaze grabbed his arm to stop the Cajun. "Rem stop! Not here, there are too many people. C'mon, we have to get to the school!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Seven 

The Titans arrived at Bayville High whilst classes were still in session. They were following a blinking light on one of Robin's pet gadgets. They even found the locker with the bomb in without much difficulty. It was then that their problems started.

Raven lifted off the locker door in a blanket of her black power by way of her usual magic words, "Aserath metrion synthos!" Cyborg had to squat down a little to peer into the locker and examine the device. He tinkered with it almost lovingly as he told the other four what he found.

"It's a standard hydrozantec power cell, coupled to a Powter-Tungsten detonator by a classic example of umbilical circuitry," he even sounded impressed.

"Hello?" Beast Boy was more confused, "Can we have that again in English?"

"There's no time!" Robin pointed to the digital timer. "Cyborg can you disarm it?"

"Short answer," Cyborg replied, "No, not really, not in a million years."

"We don't have a million years," Raven responded dryly, "We have about thirty seconds."

"Starfire, Beast Boy, we have to fly this bomb out of here, and quickly!" Robin ordered. His two teammates nodded succinctly and Beast Boy changed into a green condor. Cyborg used his cannon to blast a hole in the wall big enough for them to fly out. Raven guided the bomb out of the locker with her powers and held it hovering for a few months until Star and BB could get a grip on it.

In class down the hall, Rogue heard the noise when Cyborg blew out part of the fabric of the building. Everybody heard it, but in the confusion Rogue and the other X-Men were the ones to sneak away and go to investigate. With Kitty, Kurt, Iceman and Magma, Rogue converged on the hole in the wall and the strangers leaving the building through it.

"Stop right there!" Rogue challenged as Robin and Cyborg watched the other three Titans fly off. The plan was that Raven would do her best to insulate the explosion after Star and BB had flown it far enough into the air to make sure no one got hurt. Rogue and the other X-Men skidded to a halt on the hallway's polished floor, bristling for a fight. "What do ya think you're doing?"

"Trying to save you lives!" Robin hollered back, reluctant to turn his back on his team but wanting to face down this new threat. At that moment, the timer on the bomb suddenly flicked from having eight seconds to spare to zero. Star and BB barely had time to register the change, much less let go. Raven flung her black energy out to shield them as the bomb exploded. The blast was massive, causing a great grey mushroom cloud to rise and block out the sun.

"Eight seconds!" Beast Boy screeched, landing on his rear on the ground. Starfire and Raven followed him more gracefully. "There were eight seconds left! What happened?"

"Someone must have known we were trying to tamper with it," Robin decided as he and Cyborg jumped down to join their teammates.

"They're getting' away!" Rogue exclaimed indignantly.

"Not for long," Kurt took Iceman and Magma by the hand and bamfed down to where the Titans were. Kitty took Rogue's arm and slid them down to ground level through the wall and floor.

"Who are ya?" Rogue yelled at Robin as soon as her feet touched the solid ground and Kitty let go of her. "What was that bomb doing in our school?"

"We're the Teen Titans," explained Robin righteously. Besides him his team all drew themselves up, proud to bear that name. "That bomb was a device belonging to a villain named Slade. We don't know why he's in Bayville but we're going to find out. I suggest that you stay out of our way."

"Oh yeah?" Rogue scoffed," I got news for ya Teen Titans. We're the X-Men and Bayville is our patch. You want it, you'll have to fight us for it."

Bobby and Omara made themselves ice and flaming magma respectively, whilst Kurt's image inducer took the hint and went on the blink. He was blue and fuzzy instantly, making even Beast Boy take a second look at his oddness. Rogue took off her gloves, whilst she and Kitty got into fighting postures just as Logan had taught them.

"Please," interjected Starfire, "Please we have done you no harm. Let us not fight. We can work together to find where Slade is and why he wishes to blow up your…what is this place called again?"

"Its, like, our school," Kitty retorted, shifting on the spot uncomfortably.

"An' for all we know you planted the bomb," Rogue pointed out.

"Then why would we be trying to remove it?" griped Raven with her arms straight down her sides and her hood covering her face with shadow.

"Who knows, maybe you're insane," Nightcrawler challenged. His image inducer fizzed back again and he ceased being blue and furry. No one got chance to react to his accusation of insanity as suddenly Blaze's car careered around the corner and landed off to one side of the Titans and the X-Men. The redheaded fire elemental and the Cajun in the dark, billowing trench coat leapt out of the car energetically and charged towards the standoff…


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Eight 

"Are you all alright? You can see the explosion for miles!" Blaze exclaimed as Gambit took Rogue by the arms and examined her closely as if making sure she hadn't been damaged.

"We're fine," Kitty confessed. Magma nodded her agreement, "Yeah, the Teen Titans got the bomb out of the school. It exploded in the air, but no one got hurt."

"Speak for yourself," Beast Boy moaned, rubbing his behind with both hands. Blaze and Gambit glanced at each other, and then looked at the Titans. "Thank you so much!" Blaze exclaimed, throwing everyone a little with her heartfelt gratitude.

"Do you know who planted the bomb, or why mes Amies?" Gambit queried, folding his arms and keeping his secrets. It was Robin who replied, "We have an idea who, but not why."

"No point discussing it here," Blaze suggested, "We may as well take you back to the Institute. Who wants to order pizza?"

"Glorious!" Starfire clasped her hands in delight, "A wonderful idea."

"I agree," Robin added, as Beast Boy and Cyborg failed to contain their drooling at the mention of pizza. "It would be the Titans' pleasure to accept the X-Men's invitation. But," he looked a little sheepish, "Um maybe we need to make some introductions here?"

"Left to right," Blaze waved her hand across her group, "Iceman, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat, Magma, Gambit and I'm Blaze."

"Alright," Robin returned the favour, "Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg and Robin. Now how about that pizza?"

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"Okay so it's a veggie supreme with extra tofu for Beast Boy, quadruple meat feast for Cyborg with a stuffed crust," Kitty checked her list proudly, phone in her hand as she prepared to ring in their order. "What would you like Starfire?"

"Hum, may I please have pineapple, anchovies and hot butter fudge?" Starfire asked, peering at the menu intently. Beast Boy covered his mouth in sickly horror, leaving it to Cyborg to kindly lecture the alien, "Um Star, what have we told you before about pizza menus?"

"Not everything is a topping?" Starfire replied bashfully. Kitty just giggled, "That's okay Star, our pizza place is used to strange orders. Nightcrawler practically lives off of pepperoni and chocolate sprinkles."

"Truly you are a braenif cagglesnarf Shadowcat!" Starfire proclaimed endearingly.

"Call me Kitty," the other girl told her, "And besides, it's totally the least I can do after you stopped that bomb…" With Star and Kitty getting along famously, Cyborg and Beast Boy left them to it. Nightcrawler was coming down the hallway with a tray full of drinks for the guests. At the last moment, he tripped over his own tail and sent the refreshments flying. Beast Boy yelped, as he got drenched from head to foot in orangeade.

"Dude! Watch where you're putting your…tail?" BB changed into a big hairy sheepdog and shook himself from head to tail to get rid of the liquid. Cyborg made a hasty exit to avoid a secondary soaking. Beast Boy changed back and carried on with what he was saying. "Man, how do you do that? One minute you're just a regular kid, then next you're blue, furry and you've got a tail. That's even weirder than what I can do."

"Its this thing," Kurt offered his wrist complete with prized gadget. "Its an image inducer, cool nein? It changes me from looking like this," he indicated to his blue self, "To this." Kurt tapped the inducer to put his other face on. He ran his hand through his hair lavishly, posing. "Quite the improvement, ya?"

"Nah, you looked better blue and furry," Beast Boy replied. Kurt obligingly slipped back into his natural form, asking, "You don't mind people staring at you in the streets?"

"I'm the fantastic Beast Boy, they should totally be staring!" BB quipped with a wave of his hand. "If you think this is odd you should see what happens when I go anywhere looking like this!" He morphed into a giant python, green of course, and proceeded to throw his coils around Nightcrawler. The only problem was that Kurt was suddenly swinging from a chandelier by his prehensile tail.

"Hey dude, you will have to try harder than that if you want to catch me!" Kurt challenged, laughing. "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Beast Boy decided, turning from snake to boy to golden, okay green, eagle.

"Hey guys," Iceman interrupted as he, Magma and Robin arrived on the scene. "We're gonna go show Robin the Danger Room, wanna come?"

"Danger Room?" Beast Boy looked confused; at which Robin could only shrug.

"Shouldn't we check with Gambit or Blaze first?" Kurt wondered, not wanting to insult their guests but not sure the Professor would approve. "They are supposed to be in charge."

"We already did Kurt," Magma pouted, hand on her hip. "They said to knock ourselves out."

"Not literally I hope," Robin put in with a smile.

"Alright, you're on," Kurt agreed, "Danger Room, here we come!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Nine 

Wandering the house and grounds by himself, Cyborg had to admit he was impressed. It wasn't really his style, but the luxurious glamour of the Institute did have a certain 'bling' to it. Taking a turn at the smell of oil, he entered the garages where the X-Vehicles, aircraft excepted, were kept. Between the black X-Van and Gambit's motorcycle, an attractive female behind greeted him as Blaze got something out of the boot of her silver convertible.

"Nice," Cyborg whistled, making Blaze stand up and turn round, soccer ball in her hands. She was prepared to be flirtatiously affronted, but immediately realised Cyborg was taking about the car, not the previous view of her he had. "She yours?"

"Every inch," the redhead replied, tossing her hair back over one shoulder and bouncing the football on the concrete floor.

"How's she do for weapons? You got laser canons or heat seeking missiles under there?" Blaze replied with a small smile, "Nope." Cyborg didn't believe her, asking instead, "What then? A sonic gun under the bonnet, or maybe cutting disks over the wheel arches? That'd be kinda retro, but it could come in useful…"

"She's all natural Cyborg," Blaze told him, fluttering her eyelashes. "There's no weapons on her."

"Why not?" Cyborg couldn't quite take the concept, "You guys obviously got the technology to pull it off."

"I don't need them," Blaze explained, meeting Cyborg's one human and one machine eye without blinking. Her own brown orbs flamed with her mutation, and power seemed to suddenly swell around her. "Oh," Cyborg gasped, "Okay then, I guess…"Blaze smiled, her power dissolving again, before turning and walking out through the open garage door, dribbling the football along in front of her across the grass with her hips swaying. Cyborg couldn't help but watch her go, jaw slack and meekly bewildered.

"Gambit listen to me will ya? I just don't think that this is such a great idea…" Rogue and Gambit came into the garage, with the Southern Belle a few paces behind the Cajun.

"Easy Rogue, dis ain't no big deal," Remy told her charmingly, taking both her hands in his, "You jus' let the grown ups worry about what's best, eh?"

"You are unbelievable!" Rogue snatched her hands back and stormed off to the house. Gambit just turned his back on her with a shrug, looking Cyborg over coolly instead. Then he followed Cyborg's gaze to the departing Blaze, coming to stand by the part-mechanoid's colossal shoulder.

"Like what you see mon Ami?" he asked, voice neutral. Cyborg hadn't even started to form a reply when Gambit's tone changed to threatening. "She's outta bounds, got it?" Again the Cajun didn't wait for a reply, following Blaze at a lope until he caught her up.

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Rogue was in a foul mood by the time she crashed into Raven in the upstairs part of the house.

"What you doin' snoopin' around up here?" Rogue demanded, to which Raven stoically replied, "I wasn't snooping. We were invited to make ourselves at home here. I was merely exploring, trying to find a place of solitude."

"Yeah well good luck." Rogue grunted, pushing open the door to her room and going to the window. Raven followed her, hovering a few inches off the floor.

"You don't trust us, do you?" Raven asked. Rogue flung open the window and let the cool air wash across her face as she answered, "What's to trust? We don't know you, but we've let you into our home an' showed you all our secrets…"

"You're the brightest one of the X-Men I've met." Raven replied appreciatively, tossing back her hood. "I don't trust any of you either. This is all just too sudden for me."

"Tell me about it…" Rogue sighed, spotting a familiar pair talking out in the gazebo above the cliff face in the grounds. As she watched, Blaze took Gambit's hand, raised it above her head and turned a dainty pirouette under his arm. Rogue scowled, as Raven followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "You're jealous of them, aren't you?"

"What, no!" Rogue got defensive, "What's to be jealous of? Those two couldn't get it together if the world depended on it…"

"If you say so," replied the Teen Titan, "How about we go see if those pizzas have arrived yet? All this not trusting people is giving me an appetite."

"Sure," Rogue turned from the window and gave Raven the slightest hint of a smile. "Thanks Raven."

"You're welcome," Raven answered, starting to smile herself, "Just don't think that this means I trust you already."

"Likewise," Rogue almost laughed, "C'mon, I'm starved."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Ten 

"I took it from that look you gave me that you knew the Teen Titans Cherie," Gambit said as he reached Blaze's side and slowed to a walk. "Now I'm hopin' I was right."

"I know them by reputation," reassured Blaze. "They are goody-goody crime fighters, as if there weren't enough of those already. They are also sworn enemies of our friend Slade. I'd bet that he wants the Sentinels to take out the Titans."

"Tres bon," Gambit waved Blaze into the gazebo on the cliff top with a gentlemanly bow. Following after her he concocted their plan. "So we keep the Titans here, an' hope to draw Slade out. Give it a while, then we let slip that our source say Slade is after the Sentinel plans. When he does appear, we'll be ready."

"No one will ever know we had anything to do with Slade," Blaze decided with a smile. "But even if they did work it out, what's the worst that can happen? They ban us from babysitting? Its official, we rock!" She took his hand and raised it above her head, turning a dainty pirouette underneath and making Gambit grin.

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No longer grinning, Gambit gritted his teeth in steely determination. There was no way he was going to get beaten by a kid. In front of him the Danger Room was running a program jointly created by the X-Men and Teen Titans, called Gauntlet. To Gambit's left, Robin twirled a staff weapon in his hand. This would be a race to the finish over a whole variety of obstacles. The Cajun reached in-between his X-uniform and ever-present trench coat and drew out his own staff weapon, clicking the catch to lengthen it.

"Ooh," enthused Starfire. "Gambit also has a big shiny stick like Robin."

"Its one of the tricks up his sleeve," agreed Blaze. "Pass the popcorn BB?" They were sat on a grandstand behind the start line of the training sequence. Most of the X-Men were there in their various uniforms, as were all the Teen Titans. The thought briefly crossed Blaze's mind that she and Gambit still hadn't mentioned Sentinels to everyone yet. Surely though they still had time? No one, not even Slade, could build a giant robot that quickly. Besides the race was about to start. Time for some friendly Titan bating, "Hey Gambit, are you gonna give Robin a head start? He's so much shorter than you!"

"Don't you worry about me," Robin cautioned Remy. "You just keep you mind on the job and try not to screw up. You look a bit out of practice with serious training sessions…"

"Who died an' made you Cyclops?" Gambit retorted, just as the buzzer sounded and both males sprinted towards the first obstacle. It was a deep canyon too wide to leap easily unaided. Both of them jammed one end of their staffs into the ground and vaulted over the chasm. Yellow cape and trench coat billowed out behind the airborne heroes. They landed at exactly the same time, synchronised in briefly touching the ground with a hand. Looking upwards, they gathered themselves and sprinted towards the next obstacle.

"Perimeter security compromised," the mansion's computer announced. Gambit and Robin skidded to a halt as everyone in the grandstand lurched to their feet. "Initialising Defcon Four."

"Oh no!" Rogue cried out, as Blaze and Gambit looked in horror at each other. Dread washed over them; they had left it too late! As the group made it up to ground level, the pair's worst fears were realised. The shutters had closed over the doors and windows in the foyer. Something outside that was large and powerful was wrenching the metal sheeting of off the building. A big black-fingered robotic hand slid inside through the crack it had made and successfully pulled the plating off, flinging it away. As the X-Men and Titans watched aghast, the fist smashed through the front doors and lifted upwards, destroying the frontage of the mansion.

"Sentinel!" Kurt cried out, horrified.

"Make that Sentinels!" corrected Kitty, pointing past the first giant robot to the other two machines stood behind it. There was no doubt they were Slade's work as they were painted black and silver with bronze masks where their 'faces' should have been.

"How can Slade have built them already?" gasped Blaze.

"Wait a minute, you knew about these?" Rogue demanded to know. Robin and Cyborg backed her up with scowls of their own.

"We'd heard somet'ing," Gambit tried to placate things. "We didn't know if…"

"Slade was gonna turn the plans you sold him into giant robot killin' machines?" Rogue interrupted. "I'm right ain't I? Traitors, both of ya!"

"There was a bomb in the school, what else could we do?" Blaze argued.

"You could've like, told us so we had time to prepare! Get a grip Blaze, are you even on this team or what?" Kitty snapped, from which Blaze and Gambit had no come back.

"Worry about that later," advised Robin, "Everybody move!" They moved, just in time too as the Sentinel gave up trying to reach through the door for a victim. It stood back and unleashed a barrage of missiles at the doorway. The foyer of the mansion exploded in a frenzy of lights, rubble and noise. Driven outside, grubby and coughing but unharmed, it took the heroes a few seconds to blink the tears from their eyes…


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Eleven 

The Sentinels had no such problems. Immediately the two that were stood a little way off the building opened up their arsenals and launched missiles at the spluttering teenagers. Earth Guardian Golan was quickest to react, throwing up two of his four arms and raising a barrier of soil taller than him. The weapons impacted harmlessly as Golan, Jubilee and Magma hid on the other side. Iceman followed his friend's lead and created a solid wall of ice in the nick of time before two more missiles struck him, Cyborg and Rogue.

Starfire launched herself into the air and started to throw star bolts at the head and torso of the Sentinel nearest the house. Robin had a narrow escape, rolling to one side then salmon-leaping back to his feet as the Sentinel tried encapsulate him in green goo from its cannon. He launched a rain of throwing stars, but they glanced off without doing any damage. Behind Golan's barrier, Jubilee, Magma and now Boom Boom took up the slack using their ranged attacks to inflict blast damage to the legs of the nearest robot. They had to scatter though as a shot from Cyborg's ion cannon made a Sentinel stagger backwards and stand on the earthworks. Cyborg's war cry of "Boo-yah!" was short lived as the Sentinel recovered and launched another barrage of missiles in the bionic hero's direction, making him dive for cover.

"Aserath metrion synthos!" cried Raven, throwing bits of what had been the Institute at the robot with her magic. Beast Boy lifted Shadowcat into the air as a pterodactyl, trying to drop her over a Sentinels' head so that she could slide through the machine and short out its circuits. No sooner had Beast Boy got in range than the Sentinel suddenly twisted and launched a green glob to knock them out of the sky. Kitty concentrated and used her powers to phase both her and BB out of the goo, and they rolled to the ground in a heap.

Iceman was celebrating freezing a Sentinel's foot to the ground when the Sentinel broke free and knocked the teenager flying with a savage backhand. Nightcrawler ported in and got Bobby to safety. Gambit was throwing cards left, right and centre, but making little headway as he tried to cover the younger recruits' retreat to regroup. Blaze burst past him at a sprint, then slid into a soccer-style two-footed tackle that took her right under a Sentinel. Gambit cried out, certain she was going to be crushed. Blaze ignored all distractions and grabbed hold of the Sentinel's leg. Even as the robot ungainly tried to grab hold of her, she called on her firepower and started to melt its leg.

"Gambit, Magma, get under them where they can't reach you!" she cried out to her teammates. The Sentinel she was fighting staggered and went down to its knee on the one side. Molten metal was a flash flood dangerously close to Blaze, but Robin grabbed hold of her by the collar of her uniform and dragged her clear. There was a sudden boom as Cyborg blasted the damaged Sentinel in the back. It overbalanced, teetered, and then fell. "Yes!" Blaze exclaimed, giving Cy a high-five for helping her out.

"Over there!" Rogue cried out as Gambit copied Blaze and grabbed hold of a Sentinel by the leg. He pumped it full of his power, and then gladly let Starfire fly him to safety before the leg exploded.

"Strong an' belle, Cherie," he praised her, "Not to mention good timin', thank you." Starfire smiled and raced off to rescue Magma, who had done her best with the final Sentinel. Leaving the rest of the X-Men to mop up, Gambit followed Rogue's directions to spy Slade trying to make his escape. In the villain's hand was a shiny silver disk that could only be one thing. "Slade! An' he got the Sentinel plans!"

"After him!" ordered Robin, running by Blaze's side towards the masked villain. Gambit, Rogue and Cyborg followed. Slade made it to the high wall around the Institute grounds, leapt up and landed on top of the structure like a cat. A second later and he had dropped down the other side. Robin and Gambit used their staffs to catapult themselves over the wall, whilst Cyborg took a more direct approach and put a hole in the wall to let him and the girls through. Cupping her hands to her belly as she ran, Blaze formed a fireball that she threw to hit Slade in the back. He staggered and started to fall before somehow recovering and carrying on running. He was headed for the copse, until Gambit cut him off by felling a tree with a single exploding card.

Robin was on the villain in a flash of yellow cape. The fistfight was violent and fast, too fast to stay that way for long. Slade kicked out and caught Robin under the chin, sending him crashing into Rogue. Laughing Slade turned and tried to run again, still holding the DVD. Cyborg opened fire and hit the villain in the shoulder. The pain that Slade cried out with also made him drop the disk. Blaze was on it quickly, diving headlong to grab the disk in her gloved hand and toss it away from Slade. Gambit caught it, and made it glow with his power. Slade meanwhile had recovered and grabbed Blaze by a handful of hair, pulling her to her knees and making her yelp with pain.

"Give me the disk and let me leave or I will break her neck," Slade threatened.

"Try it," Rogue argued. She and Blaze exchanged a meaningful look, and Rogue repeated herself with more ferocity. "Go on, I dare ya. Try an' hurt her. I don't believe you can."

"Rogue no!" Gambit tried to shut the other X-Man up, but Slade was already lifting Blaze up and taking a good grip on her scalp. One sharp twist and he would break his hostage's pretty little neck. So he thought anyway, until Blaze decided enough was enough. She changed into her fire-form and sent a column of fire out from herself to consume Slade entirely. At the same moment as Blaze wrenched herself free, Gambit threw the DVD and it exploded in Slade's face. Slade yelled and clawed at his eyes, turning and running with flames trailing behind him like a comets' tail.

"Aw," Blaze commented, rubbing her now-human scalp with her hand. "That hurt! Cheers Rogue."

"That's nothin'," Rogue snapped, "Compared to what's gonna happen to ya when Beast an' Storm get back. You too Swamp Rat."

"At least Slade has been defeated," Robin said, "Given everything, this could have been a whole lot worse."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Twelve 

The Confidential Construction Company rolled up the front drive to the Xavier Institute one more time to repair the latest damage to the buildings. Meanwhile the Teen Titans said their goodbyes to their new friends. Starfire embraced Kitty strongly, almost making Shadowcat's eyes bulge.

"You will come and visit wont you?" Star enthused, "You must! We can go to the mall, and discover the delights of Earthly hair ornaments and of nail manicures!"

"Of course I'll come," Kitty giggled, phasing out of Star's arms. "Just wait 'til the holidays alright?"

"Is she always this over-excited?" Rogue asked Raven, indicating to Starfire.

"Pretty much," Raven grumbled. "Is Shadowcat?"

"Yeah," Rogue smiled. "I don't know how either of us cope."

"Well if you ever need someone to moan to," Raven humbly suggested, "You've got our number Rogue."

"Oh man, this is getting way too emotional," Cyborg grumbled with his arms folded. Bobby and Magma looked up at the big semi-android with innocent eyes.

"Aren't you gonna miss us at all Cy?" Bobby pleaded.

"Nope," Cyborg replied, not looking at the kids.

"Not even a little bit?" Magma asked, "Not even slightly?"

"Well, maybe you two…" Cyborg conceded, giving them a grin. "Take care alright?"

"Mush!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "I think I'm gonna puke."

"Not if I do first dude," Nightcrawler gagged, covering his mouth.

"Dude, how is that ever gonna stop me from puking?" BB asked, looking bewildered. "I still want a rematch with you on Gauntlet anyway, and this time you have to actually do the course, not just port to the finish alright?"

"Anytime," Nightcrawler agreed, "Come back soon, ya?"

"You bet buddy," Beast Boy grinned. Robin came up to the gathering, and called an end to the goodbyes.

"Time to go Titans, this mission is officially over," he smiled at the X-Men, "Its good to know that Bayville is in good hands. I don't think we will be needed here again."

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"Its clear we overestimated your capabilities when we left you in charge," Storm addressed Blaze and Gambit in the library where this had all began.

"We did the best we could," Blaze replied, every muscle in her body tensed as she took the disciplinary speeches.

"There ain't nothin' else we could've done," Gambit protested as well, equally as uncomfortable as Blaze.

"You could have trusted your teammates," Beast pointed out. "You could have at least pretended to be part of this Institute, instead of keeping yourselves to yourselves and building up walls between the others and you. The fact remains that you were exceedingly lucky, but this could quite foreseeably have ended in tears."

"So what are you going to do to us?" Blaze asked, raising her chin defiantly.

"Nothing," Storm said, turning to leave the room with Beast. "You know how much you have disappointed us. We can't ground you or give you chores to do like we would the children. Neither is any punishment we could inflict on you for your recklessness likely to be as hard on you as what your teammates are going to put you through now."

"How do you mean?" Gambit wanted to know.

"You didn't trust them," Beast explained. "So now they wont trust you either. Whereas you two seem capable of seeing the world in shades of grey, to them it is black or white. You are either with them or against them, and I wouldn't be surprised if now they thought you were against them. You are going to have to earn that trust back and it is going to take time."

The door closed behind the instructors, and both ex-thieves breathed a sigh of relief.

"You reckon it'll be that bad?" Blaze asked her tall friend.

"Face it Cherie," Gambit replied seriously, "We're doomed."

Roll credits………………………….


End file.
